The present invention relates to a substrate delivering device for delivering a substrate such as a wafer or a liquid crystal in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly to a hand for directly transmitting/receiving the substrate to/from other apparatuses.
A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a substrate delivering device for delivering a substrate to a desirable position in the apparatus. The substrate delivering device includes a hand for properly holding the substrate. In a large number of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses, the substrate is horizontally held and delivered in the apparatus by means of the hand in order to carry out a predetermined treatment over a surface or a back face which is a plane of the substrate. In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the substrate mounted on the hand is further held by another substrate holding mechanism in the apparatus and is transmitted/received in a baton passing way. In other words, a separate substrate holding mechanism from the hand in the apparatus approaches the substrate held by the hand in a horizontal condition from above and transmits/receives the substrate in a normal direction of the plane of the substrate. However, the substrate holding mechanism and the hand of the substrate delivering device have horizontal levels which are not adapted to each other or have planar positions shifted from each other in some cases. Therefore, it is hard to directly transmit/receive the substrate between them.
For this reason, a station for temporarily mounting the substrate thereon is provided between the substrate delivering device and the substrate holding mechanism in some cases. A mounting surface of the station is provided with a guide groove for carrying out an adjustment to adapt the level of the station to that of the substrate holding mechanism and correcting the planar position of the substrate when the substrate delivering device mounts the substrate on the station. Consequently, a substrate processing device mounts the substrate on the station and the substrate holding mechanism approaches the substrate mounted on the station which is to be taken so that the substrate is properly delivered from the substrate delivering device to the substrate holding mechanism.
In this case, the station only has a mounting portion for mounting the substrate thereon and does not have a mechanism for positively holding the substrate held on the hand of the substrate delivering device. In other words, the hand of the substrate delivering device only mounts the substrate on the mounting portion at a substrate receiving side. Even if the horizontal levels of the hand and the station are not adapted to each other or the planar positions are slightly shifted from each other, accordingly, the hand can mount the substrate on the mounting portion of the station without trouble.
However, a reduction in a size of a footprint is required in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. When the station is provided, the size of the apparatus is increased correspondingly.
If the station is not provided, however, it is hard to properly transmit/receive the substrate directly in the normal direction of the plane of the substrate between the hand and the substrate holding mechanism.
In consideration of the problems, it is an object of the invention to provide a hand for a substrate delivering device which can directly transmit/receive a substrate held on the hand to/from a substrate holding mechanism on a partner side in a normal direction of a plane of the substrate.
In order to solve the problem, the invention has the following structure.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a hand for holding a substrate in a horizontal plane, including:
a hand base serving as a base portion,
a rocking hand disposed to be superposed on the hand base and serving to support the substrate, and
a rocking mechanism provided between the hand base and the rocking hand and serving to support the rocking hand to be tiltable and movable in parallel with respect to the hand base.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided the hand according to the first aspect, wherein
the rocking mechanism supports the rocking hand by means of a compression spring.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the hand according to the first aspect, wherein
the rocking hand includes a guide pin for correcting a position in a horizontal direction in abutment on a periphery of the substrate, and
the guide pin is pressed down from a surface of the rocking hand.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided the hand according to the third aspect, wherein
the rocking hand includes a pad on which the substrate guided by the guide pin is mounted and a gripping click for gripping the periphery of the substrate mounted on the pad.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided the hand according to the fourth aspect, further including:
an external wall for surrounding the rocking mechanism and a gripping click driving mechanism for driving the gripping click is provided on the hand base.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a substrate delivering device including:
the hand according to the first aspect.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including:
the substrate delivering device according to the sixth aspect, and
a holding mechanism for directly transmitting/receiving the substrate to/from the hand.
According to the invention, even if the horizontal level or planar position of the holding mechanism on the partner side for directly transmitting/receiving the substrate to/from the hand in the planar direction of the substrate is not adapted to that of the hand, the rocking hand portion of the hand is rocked in conformity with the holding mechanism on the partner side. Therefore, it is possible to reliably transmit/receive the substrate between the hand and the holding mechanism on the partner side.